Your Family and You

It was oddly peaceful inside the spa, given the activity going on outside, although I guess that was the atmosphere they were going for. No point in being stressed in a place that is meant for de-stressing.

Soft music filled the reception area along with the faint sound of trickling water. The sweet fragrance of scented shampoo and lotions wafted through the air, along with the smell of heated water. It reminded me of hot tubs in hotels back on Earth.

The mare behind the counter, an earthen brown earth pony with a short-cropped cyan mane, finished marking down something in a ledger before glancing up. She gawked at me for a moment before shaking her head and putting on a warm—if not somewhat forced—smile.

“H-hello! May I help you today?” she asked.

“Probably,” I said. Wincing, I massaged my leg. “At least, I hope so. I’m not looking to wander around much longer.”

“Oh!” She blinked before her eyes widened. “Oh! You’re… you’re that human! The one Princess Celestia talked about.”

I gave her a bemused look. “I… guess? Maybe. Look, I’m just looking for someone. Or, er… somepony. Someponies?” Seeing her look of confusion, I rolled my eyes. “Okay, look… I’m trying to find two alicorns. A pink one and a lavender one? Both Princesses?”

“Oh, uh…” Leaning back she peered down the hallway behind the counter and bit her lip. “They were relaxing in the main room a while ago. It doesn’t sound like they’re in there now though, so they must have moved to a private room. If that’s the case… they might be in the last room on the right. That’s the one used for royal treatment. I can go check if you’d like.”

My leg throbbed as she spoke, and it was getting harder and harder to ignore the steadily growing pain. “No, that’s fine,” I said, and it came out as half a growl. “I can find them myself.” I limped behind the counter, trying not to grunt as I put weight on my leg. Rainbow had aggravated my injury and I was regretting not bringing along some form of painkiller. Hell, I’d even take some of Primrose’s at the moment, as much as that stuff fucks with my brain.

When I entered the main room, I saw that it was indeed empty. The large tub was still steaming though, and water pooled around its base, indicating that it was just recently vacated. Eyeing a trail of water leading from the pool to one of the private rooms, I took an educated guess on where the two alicorns might be. That, and I could hear quiet conversation coming from the other side.

I staggered forward and pushed the door open, not even bothering to knock. The conversation inside died as I entered, the occupants turning their attention to me instead. Both Twilight and Cadance were laid out on massage tables, their chins resting on their forelimbs as they conversed. A pair of color-swapped earth pony mares stood over them, working at their shoulders and backs—the pink mare with blue mane working the kinks out of Twilight’s shoulders, while the blue mare with pink mane dug her hooves into Cadance’s back.

Upon seeing me, Lotus gasped, her eyes sparkling. “Monsieur Max!”

“Oh.” Twilight blinked. “You actually came out.” From beside her, Cadance offered a smile but said nothing.

“Was I not supposed to?” I asked, scratching at my beard.

“No, you’re welcome to join,” Twilight said. “I just wasn’t expecting you to actually leave the library today.”

“Starting to wish I didn’t.” I rubbed my leg only to wince in pain. Glancing around, I spied a chair in the corner and started for it, limping heavily as I did so.

Twilight gave me a concerned look. “Oh no. Is your leg hurting again? You shouldn’t have come all the way out here if it was bothering you!”

“It was fine when I left the library,” I said, “but then Rainbow wanted to pull her usual crap. She doesn’t seem to understand I’m still healing. It’s been getting worse ever since—”

I must have blinked because I missed it. One moment I was making my way across the room to the chair, the next I was facedown on a massage table next to Twilight, my face pushed into the headrest and my shirt discarded off to the side. A pair of blue hooves appeared in my vision followed quickly by the feeling of hooves against my back. “Oh no no! Zis is completely unacceptable! We can not be ‘aving you walk around in pain, mon cheri!”

Before I had a chance to reply, Lotus pressed her hooves into my lower back, and my body turned to mush.

Dimly, I could hear Aloe sigh off to the side. “I’m terribly sorry about zis, Princess. It seems my sister has moved on to another customer before she has finished with your treatment.” This was followed by Cadance’s musical laughter.

“That’s quite alright. We were just about done anyway. Besides, I think our new arrival needs her attention more than me.” There came the sound of her stretching, small groans escaping her as she worked her relaxed muscles. “I’ll just make my way over to the soaking pool while these two wrap up.” There was some movement before I felt someone poke my shoulder.

“Hear that?” Cadance quipped as she walked past. “You stole my masseuse.” A moment later I heard her slip into a tub off to the side, a happy coo escaping her as she floated about.

“Didn’t see your name on her,” I muttered sleepily as Lotus continued to work. The lotion she was using slowly heated up, leaving behind a blessed, tingling sensation that left my body feeling looser than it had in ages. Lotus danced from knot to knot, her expert hooves making easy work of the aches and pains that had wracked my body as of late.

“Goodness, but you are so tense!” she said as she found a particularly large spot on my lower back.

“It’s been rough,” I mumbled.

“You can say that again,” Twilight said.

Lotus hummed. “I can certainly tell! One moment please.”

There was a pause before a sudden, heavy weight settled on my back, pushing the air out of me. Unsure of what was happening, my question was answered a moment later when I heard Cadance ask. “Uh, I’m not an expert, but should you really be standing on him like that?”

“Zat does seem a little extreme, sister,” Aloe added.

“I need a better angle with which to work!” Lotus replied from above me. “Zis is ze worst case I ‘ave seen in a while!” She kept moving, never stopping as her hooves shifted from one part of my back to another. Every time she swayed side to side, I could feel more and more of myself going. Soon I would be nothing more than a puddle of bliss on the table. Grunts and groans escaped me involuntarily as the goddess tap danced upon my spine.

I heard Twilight giggle from beside me. “Sounds like somepony is enjoying themselves.”

“This is amazing,” I groaned. “Lotus, you’re amazing.”

“Just doing my job, monsieur!”

“No, you’re doing God’s work. That’s what you’re doing.”

She tittered before turning about and slowly tiptoeing down towards my feet. “Now… was it the right or left leg, mon cheri?”

“The right one.” No sooner had the words left my mouth than she attacked said limb with a vengeance; it never stood a chance. It was painful at first, and I winced as the muscles flared and twinged, but Lotus knew what she was doing, and before long I could feel the discomfort start to ebb.

“Dear Celestia,” Lotus grunted as she worked. “I ‘ave never seen such tenseness before! It’s almost like it is fighting me back!” She put some extra force into my thigh, and there was some resistance before there was a sudden loud popping sound.

“Ummm…” Twilight shifted, and I could feel her eyes on me. “Are you alright?”

“Fuuuck meee…” All the pain in my leg suddenly ceased. It was like someone had flipped a switch. One moment a dull ache ran up the entire limb, the next it was gone. I wiggled my toes to make sure that I still had feeling in the leg, and while there was still some stiffness in the movement, most of the discomfort was now gone.

“Zat seems to ‘ave done it!” Lotus declared proudly.

“Amazing,” I murmured.

“Sounds like he’s fine to me,” Cadance chirped. “Anyway, Twilight! What were you talking about before we were so rudely interrupted by your human?”

I could feel myself slowly dozing off in my relaxed state. From beside me, Twilight’s gentle voice didn’t help as she continued the conversation that had been going on before I showed up. “Hmmm? Oh, yes! I’m not sure how long you’re planning on staying, but there’s a traveling museum coming to Ponyville in the next few days, and their entire exhibit is Starswirl the Bearded! They have many of his artifacts on display!”

“Hers,” I corrected. “Starswirl was a mare…” She didn’t hear me though, my voice so soft as I slowly drifted off into unconsciousness. Darkness crept in around me, the gentle ministrations from Lotus rocking me slowly into slumber. The last thing I heard before I slipped away was Twilight telling Cadance about some kind of candlestick or something.

~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~

Seated on a hillside, I looked out over the rolling hills of blues and purples. Behind me, a weeping willow of black licorice provided shade from the blazing moon above. Swedish fish swam through the branches, glubbing happily as they chased each other around.

I wasn’t sure how long I sat there, watching volkswagen beetles ranging through the grassy hills, before I became aware of the fact I wasn’t alone. My doppelganger sat beside me, matching me move for move. I scratched my chin, he scratched his chin. I shifted one of my legs beneath me, he did the same. It was like sitting next to a mirror, only without the mirror.

Both of us sat there, saying nothing as the world slowly shifted around us. The blue and purple hills gave way to empty streets, and the volkswagens transformed into thatched-roof housing. Still, we sat there and said nothing. Even when the buildings began to crumble and decay around us, we continued to copy each other. I looked to the left, he looked to the left. He looked to the right, I looked to the right. At no point could we see each other’s faces except out of the corner of our eyes.

The hills began to flatten out, and the color seeped from the landscape. Black licorice dissolved into smoke, taking the trees with it as well. The moon faded, the skies darkened, and the shadows lengthened around us as darkness began to consume the world. It crept in from the horizon, rolling in like a thick, twisting miasma of rot. It kept growing until it had covered everything except me and my doppelganger. We stood together in a small pocket of clear air.

Side by side, we stared into the swirling darkness.

My doppelganger twitched. Slowly its head lolled to the side as it turned to stare at me. I turned to look at him as well. He spoke, and his voice was dry and raspy. “If you’re going to leave me here in the asylum, might I have a little small request?”

“And what might that be?”

Lifting an arm, the doppelganger held out an empty cup. “A little glass of water… please.”

A pair of sickly glowing crimson eyes grinned as the darkness claimed everything.

~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~

By the time I woke up, the memory of the dream had all but faded, save for a faint chuckle in the back of my mind.